A perennial problem with the use of hypodermic syringes in the past was the necessity to sterilize many syringes and needles while keeping the needle sharp. When the of disposable needles came into existence, the problems of sterilization were greatly reduced, and when disposable syringes were suggested most of the problems of sterilization and dull needles disappeared. Nevertheless, one problem remained and that involved the medical person using the syringe, who, the carelessness, frequently was stabbed by a used needle. Although this was serious when dealing with patients having certain infectious diseases the problem was greatly magnified when AIDS was recognized as a prevalent disease transmitted by intimate mixing of blood or other body fluids of an infected person with that of an uninfected person. The lack of a sure cure for AIDS has led to many safeguard procedures to protect medical personnel from inadvertent infection. Among the procedures the are those relating to safe use of a syringe and needle for injections and/or the taking of blood samples.
Among the prior art devices for prevention of needle punctures are several types. U.S. Pat. No. 3,306,290 to Weltman discloses a spring biased needle which retracts completely inside the syringe body when not in use. The most simple device is that typified by U.S. Pat. No. 4,654,034 to Masters et al., which is merely a funnel entrance cover for a needle which is removed for use of the needle and replaced after use of the needle. Devices such as those of U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,610,667 and 4,623,336 to Pedicano et al. where the funnel-top cover has a hinged cap which is closed with the used needle inside so as to prevent inadvertent punctures by those handling the trash containing disposable needles. Disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,659,330 to Nelson et al., is a needle guard attachable to a syringe to cover the needle, and to permit the cover to pivot away from the needle when being used, and to be returned to cover the needle after use. My pending application Ser. No. 07/197,143 filed May 23, 1988 discloses and claims a covered needle in which the cover is pivotable to cause plastic film over a slit in the cover to be ruptured and thereby expose the needle for medical use. All of these devices have certain virtues, but only the needle of my pending patent application provides adequate safety from self-puncture. That needle does not have the best design for sterilization and handling, which the present invention provides.
It is an object of this invention to provide an improved disposable covered needle for a syringe. It is another object of this invention to provide an improved pivotable cover that virtually eliminates possibilities for inadvertent punctures by contaminated needles, while providing a unitized structure that is easily sterilized and convenient to use, and has the capability of being made unuseable. Still other objects will become apparent from the more detailed description which follows.